The United States has a population approaching 300 million people and covers roughly 3.5 million square miles. Latin America has a population approaching 600 million people and covers roughly 8 million square miles. Yet we habitually think of Latin America, with its rich tapestry of cultures so deeply interwoven with our own, as the "other" America. The Latin American Studies program at Hamilton challenges such mental borders by allowing students to see this emerging, energetic and often contradictory region through new eyes.
While the Hispanic studies program focuses broadly on Spanish, Latin American, and U.S. Latino/Latina literature and culture, the Latin American studies minor offers a narrower and more intense exploration of the history, culture and politics of Latin America itself — the more than 40 nations and independent states that stretch from Mexico and Caribbean in the north to the distant reaches of Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of the Americas.
The vast expanse of Latin America's very geography suggests the interdisciplinary nature of the field. The five-course Latin American studies minor draws on the resources of Hamilton's Hispanic studies, history, government, sociology, women's studies and anthropology programs to present the Latin American mosaic in all its diverse dimensions.
The Hamilton program is not about large, anonymous lectures. It brings some of the College's most accomplished faculty members in many fields into small classrooms. There the emphasis is on discussion, one-on-one engagement, and strong writing and research skills.
A familiarity with Latin American language, life, arts and history is of great practical value in an increasingly bilingual and multicultural professional world. But Latin American studies provides its own rich rewards as well. Latin American culture is not "down there." It is part of the fabric of the American life that we all live; to see it more clearly is to see ourselves anew.
The vast expanse of Latin America's very geography suggests the interdisciplinary nature of the field. The five-course Latin American studies minor draws on the resources of Hamilton's Hispanic studies, history, government, sociology, women's studies and anthropology programs to present the Latin American mosaic in all its diverse dimensions.
The Hamilton program is not about large, anonymous lectures. It brings some of the College's most accomplished faculty members in many fields into small classrooms. There the emphasis is on discussion, one-on-one engagement, and strong writing and research skills.
A familiarity with Latin American language, life, arts and history is of great practical value in an increasingly bilingual and multicultural professional world. But Latin American studies provides its own rich rewards as well. Latin American culture is not "down there." It is part of the fabric of the American life that we all live; to see it more clearly is to see ourselves anew.
The vast expanse of Latin America's very geography suggests the interdisciplinary nature of the field. The five-course Latin American studies minor draws on the resources of Hamilton's Hispanic studies, history, government, sociology, women's studies and anthropology programs to present the Latin American mosaic in all its diverse dimensions.
The Hamilton program is not about large, anonymous lectures. It brings some of the College's most accomplished faculty members in many fields into small classrooms. There the emphasis is on discussion, one-on-one engagement, and strong writing and research skills.
A familiarity with Latin American language, life, arts and history is of great practical value in an increasingly bilingual and multicultural professional world. But Latin American studies provides its own rich rewards as well. Latin American culture is not "down there." It is part of the fabric of the American life that we all live; to see it more clearly is to see ourselves anew.
